Around 1900, across the street (Earls Bridge Road) from our present
location a three room school was built that housed grades one through eight.
This replaced maybe as many as nine one room schools in the surrounding area
at the time.
Around 1910, a two-story, six-room school was built on the present location
and in1925 back across the street a two-story brick facility was built for
the high school. In 1938, there were only four elementary teachers, no
electricity, heat from a coal burning heater, outside restrooms, and water
carried in buckets from a spring by the students.
In 1940, a fourth structure was built back on the part of the present site
and it included an auditorium and six classrooms for a high school. The 1910
building was taken down and the lumber was reused to re-purpose part of the
1925 high school building for the elementary.
The Dacusville High School closed in 1971 and area students chose to attend
Pickens High School. The Junior High School remained in the old building
until the summer of 1983 when it was demolished and replaced with the
current gym. During this same construction, Dacusville Elementary added an
additional wing that tripled the size of the school including a second story
to house Dacusville Junior High (later Middle School). The Middle School
moved to their own facility in the summer of 1997.
Before the start of the 1994-95 school year Dacusville Junior High School
officially became an accredited middle school; thus, establishing Dacusville
Middle School. With this change, the middle school became composed of grades
6-8 with the ninth graders attending Pickens High School. At this time, Mr.
Ronny Hall was serving as Principal of the school.
In 1994 land was purchased between Cherokee Trail and Thomas Mill Road for
the construction of a new middle school building (899 Thomas Mill Road ~
Easley, SC 29640).
Construction of the present day school began on this site in the summer of
1996 and was completed in December of 1997. Faculty and students assisted
with the movement into this building on January 16, 1998. This building was
constructed under the watchful eye of Mr. John Wade, who at this time was
the Principal of Dacusville Middle School (1996-1998). The new Dacusville
Middle School facility was officially dedicated on March 15, 1998. Both
present and former teachers, students, and community leaders attended this
Sunday afternoon ceremony. The much anticipated building was recognized as a
huge asset to the community, by providing the most technologically advanced
school as possible, in order to enhance the educational program of the all
middle school students in the area.
Since taking occupancy in 1998, Dacusville Middle School has since continued
to strive to meet the needs of the community and its middle school students.
Under the leadership of Mr. Marion Lawson (1998-2000), the school moved from
a traditional six period day to a seven period day in order to better meet
the educational needs of our students. Dacusville Middle School was under
the direction of Mrs. Ellen Smith from 2000-2009. She began her career at
Dacusville Junior High School in 1976. Under Mrs. Smith’s leadership, the
school remained accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools and was recognized as a Red Carpet School in 2002-2003 by the State
Department of Education for its customer service. Since 2000, Dacusville
Middle School has also received both Gold and Silver Awards for student
achievement based on student test scores. Mr. Andy Hooker, former principal,
joined the Dacusville Middle School team in 2009. Under his leadership at
DMS,
our school saw more growth in student achievement than other schools in
Pickens County. Mrs. Wanda Tharpe has taken over the leadership at DMS as
our current principal, 2013. We are very excited to see where she will lead
Dacusville Middle School into the future.
http://pickens.dms.schoolfusion.us/